Repair and Rehabilitation: Extending the Life of Infrastructure
As urbanization accelerates and infrastructure ages, the need for repair and rehabilitation of civil structures has become more pressing than ever. These processes are essential to maintain structural integrity, ensure public safety, and optimize lifecycle costs—especially in a world where replacing existing infrastructure is often less feasible than restoring it.
What Is Repair and Rehabilitation?
Repair refers to restoring damaged or deteriorated structures to their original condition, often through patching, sealing, or component replacement. Rehabilitation, on the other hand, involves upgrading or enhancing an existing structure to meet current performance standards or extend its service life—often through retrofitting, reinforcement, or material substitution.
Together, these interventions form a critical part of asset management strategies across sectors like:
Buildings and housing
Roads and bridges
Water infrastructure
Industrial facilities
Historical monuments
Common Causes of Structural Deterioration
Aging materials and fatigue
Environmental exposure (e.g., corrosion, freeze-thaw cycles)
Seismic activity
Poor construction quality or design errors
Heavy usage or overloading
Lack of maintenance